


Just the Way You Are

by WaffleBatter



Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Best Friends, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-11 00:39:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15303630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaffleBatter/pseuds/WaffleBatter
Summary: Morgan Stark isn't like his father...and that's okay. Post Avengers 4 where every lives happily ever after.





	Just the Way You Are

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The MCU films and characters belong to Disney and so many people who definitely aren't me. I am borrowing the characters for my own amusement.
> 
> Author's Note: Seeing Avengers: Infinity War renewed my love for the MCU and I became a huge, HUGE Pepperony fan. Many, many thanks to Peacefulwriter88 for her editing and suggestions. She is truly the best.

Genius. Billionaire.  Playboy. Philanthropist.

 

Fourteen years ago Tony Stark never, ever, _ever_ thought he’d be adding Husband and Stay-at-home dad to his self-description.

 

But here he sat waiting in his car, outside of Merritt Prep Academy, to pick up his son from school.  And while he may have added father to his personal resume, that didn’t mean Tony had to change completely as he ignored the way both parents and teachers alike checking out his electric blue Audi TT Coupe.

 

The bell rang, signaling the end of the day.  The quiet of the sunny afternoon was broken as kids poured out of the building, laughing and talking.  Some students tried running to their parents’ vehicles, ignoring the sounds of teachers warning them to slow down. Tony sat up straighter, looking for his eight year old son.  As it had turned out, Tony’s dream hadn’t been just dream; Pepper had found out she pregnant shortly after the events that ultimately resulted in the defeat of Thanos.  It was a family joke that Tony knew Pepper was pregnant before she did.

 

A few minutes later, Tony spotted the top of Morgan’s head in a group of boys.  Unfortunately, the child was shorter and skinnier than most of his classmates.  While his skin tone was the same as his father’s, Morgan’s hair was longer, starting to grow over his ears.  Morgan had freckles that scattered from under his blue eyes across the bridge of his nose.  Even though Morgan’s head was down, Tony could see his red face as he walked hurriedly passed a group of laughing boys.

 

 “Rough day at the salt mines?” Tony asked when Morgan hopped in the car, roughly throwing his backpack on the clean floor and ignoring eye contact with his father.

 

“I’m fine,” Morgan muttered as he buckled his seatbelt.  Tony tapped his fingers on the wheel, trying to figure out what to say.  Clearly something was bothering his son, but Tony knew if kept pushing, Morgan would shut down even more.  He made a mental note to talk to Pepper; she was always more adept at navigating these kind of situations.

 

As Tony carefully pulled away from the curb, a group of kids grinned and waved at him.  “It’s Iron Man!”  “Hi, Iron Man!”  Grinning, he waved back.

 

Morgan’s scowl deepened.  “Can’t you ever come in a normal car?  Or have normal sunglasses?”

 

Tony scoffed.  “You don’t like the new green shades?  It makes the world look like a lime exploded all over everything.”

 

“It’s embarrassing!  Everyone knows you everywhere we go.”

 

“Kiddo, long before you came into this world, my big mouth made sure everyone knew who I was.”  Quickly, Tony looked over to see his son leaning his head against the window.  “What’s going on?”

 

“It’s nothing.”

 

“You sure?”

 

“ _Yes_ ,” Morgan insisted.  Tony bit back a sigh of frustration; when he was a kid he would have given anything for his father to talk to him.  As they neared the familiar neighborhood, Tony took a turn opposite of the house that immediately drew an annoyed, “Where are we going?” out of Morgan, his eyes flitting between the windshield and his father.

 

“The SI airstrip.  Peter is flying in, and we’re picking him up.”

 

“That’s today?”  Morgan practically whined.

 

“Yeah, his spring break just started and he’s spending a couple of days with us.” 

 

“You gonna take him to the research lab?” Morgan muttered.

 

“Probably.”  Tony reached over and squeezed his son’s shoulder.  “Are you sure you’re okay?  I thought you liked Peter.”

 

Tony glanced over and saw Morgan sigh.  “Yeah, Peter’s all right.”

 

“Don’t worry, kid, we’ll have a lot of fun.”

 

Silence fell over the both of them, the only sound being the faint sound of the radio and the quiet hum of the engine.  Despite all of this, Tony didn’t miss the way Morgan softly whispered to himself, “No, you guys will.”

* * *

Almost nine years later, it still warmed Tony’s heart to see Peter Parker alive and well.  The kid, (he was twenty-three now, but to Tony he’d always be a kid), stood at the top of the stairs connected to the plane, with a wide grin plastered on his face.  “Hey, Mister Stark!”

 

“Parker!”  Tony watched as Peter’s lanky body trotted down the steps with excitement.  When he reached the ground, Peter greeted Tony with outstretched arms for a hug.  Tony eagerly returned the hug, giving the young man a friendly clap on the back.  “How is M.I.T treating you?”

 

“My classes have been brutal.  I was glad to get away for a few days.”  He looked over at Morgan.  “Hey, buddy!  It’s good to see you.”

 

Morgan managed a half smile, despite the mood he’d been in earlier.  “Hi, Peter.”

 

From the open door of the plane came another voice.  “Hey, Spiderling!  Come grab your bags.  I am _not_ your bell boy.”

 

Eyes widening, Peter turned around.  “Ooops.”  But his path was blocked by one tired and annoyed James Rhodes. 

 

“Seriously, man, I don’t know how you’re making through the Master’s engineering program with the way you forget you stuff.”  Rhodey stepped on to the tarmac and Peter raced back up to the airplane to retrieve his bag.

 

Tony stuffed his hands in his pockets; he couldn’t have Rhodey actually thinking he was excited to see his best friend.  “So no one checks for stowaways?  What kind of aircraft are we running here?  Security!”

 

Rhodey simply brushed by Tony, in favor of wrapping Morgan up in a big hug.  Morgan squealed happily when he picked him off of the ground.  Tony would always be eternally grateful to Shuri as she’d healed Rhodey’s paralysis, and James had been able to walk unassisted ever since.

 

“How are you, kiddo?” Rhodey asked when he put Morgan down.

 

“Good!”  Morgan grinned.  “What are you doing here?”

 

“I’m here to see you and your mom.”

 

Letting his hands fall to his side, Tony’s lips quirked.  “And not me, Platypus?”

 

“Not if you keep calling me that, Tony Stank,” Rhodey replied, hugging Tony.  “I heard you were picking up Peter in Boston so I just thought I’d tag along.”

 

Tony scoffed.  “You mean invite yourself?  Did you have the decency to book a hotel room?” 

 

Shaking his head, Rhodey shot him a cocky grin. “Sure, did.  I’m staying at Chez Stark.”

* * *

 They all managed to cram into the little roadster, even with Peter and Rhodeys’ luggage barely fitting in the trunk, so by the time that Tony had parked in the underground garage, all four passengers gratefully spilled out of it.

 

Even through the tight sitting conditions, Peter and Tony had kept up an animated conversation about Peter’s graduate school program from robotics to engineering.  And during it all, Morgan sat with his arms crossed, tight lipped, and annoyed.  The young boy occasionally gave out drawn out sighs despite Rhodey’s inquiries about how school was going, if he was going to play baseball this summer.  By the time they made it to the large mansion, Morgan had completely shut down, and Rhodey watched with curiosity and concern as Morgan immediately pushed out of the vehicle.

 

When they got upstairs, Morgan went directly to the dining room to begin his homework.  That troubled Rhodey even more because what kid wanted to do homework on a Friday evening?  Tony’s phone chirped and he read the incoming text message.

 

“It’s Pepper.  She has a last minute conference call, and won’t be home for dinner.  She says we should have dinner without her.”

 

“So pizza then?” Rhodey automatically said.

 

Tony stuffed his phone back in his pocket.  “Already ordered.”

 

Morgan remained at the table the entire time while Peter and Rhodey caught up with Tony in the living room.  When the pizza arrived, the three men went to the dining room where Morgan frowned at the piece of paper in front of him.

 

Tony set the boxes on the table.  “Judging by that look, it is definitely time for a break.”

 

Rhodey sat down next to Morgan. “What are you working on?”

 

Morgan immediately flipped over the paper.  “Nothing.”

 

“C’mon, son,” Tony cajoled.  “I am positive that with all of us we can help you.  Now what is it?”

 

Tony slid the paper from under Morgan’s hands, and the boy’s body visibly deflated.  Tony’s eyes lit up with excitement as he scanned the words.  “Whoa, whoa, whoa.  You have a science fair coming up?!”

 

“Yeah,” he answered meekly.

 

“And you didn’t tell me?!”

 

Morgan sighed.  “Dad, I don’t know what to choose.”

 

Tony clapped his son’s shoulder.  “Buddy, my whole workshop is science fair.  I can help you do something really cool.”

 

“I really don’t understand that circuitry stu-”

 

Peter talked over Morgan’s small voice.  “I coded a computer program for my first science fair.”

 

“I built a computer,” Tony grinned.

 

Rhodey shook his head.  “Here I thought my constellation map was cool.”

 

“You also thought Warmachinerox68 was a good password.” Tony’s comment dripped with sarcasm, and Rhodey rolled his eyes.  “But we need to think of something for Morgan that will blow all of the projects out of the water.”

 

Peter excitedly suggested, “What about something with robots?”

 

Tony snapped his fingers.  “Great idea!  We could build a miniature Dummy.”

 

Through all of this, Rhodey could take in the continued down shift of Morgan, the way his eyes turned glassy despite the excited ramblings of his father and young mentee. They were gushing about plans and materials and Rhodey sighed, shaking his head. He knew his best friend could be very single minded when it came to an idea he was passionate about.

 

“Dad,” Morgan tried protesting.  “I don’t know how to do any of what of what you’re talking about.”

 

“Nonsense.  Peter and I will help you.”

 

Morgan’s face turned a bright shade of red.  “No, I don’t want your help!”

 

Everyone was taken aback.  Morgan was always an even tempered child, and was never rude to adults. 

 

“Wha…what did you say?” Tony asked, sounding as if he couldn’t believe what he heard.

 

“I said I don’t want you help!” Morgan yelled, rising from his chair.  “I don’t want to go to your workshop!  I don’t want to build a stupid robot!  And I don’t want to do anything with you or Peter!”  With that, he flung himself from the table and ran out of the dining room.

 

“Morgan!”  Tony tried calling.  “Hey, Morgan!”  But the little boy had pounded down the stairs toward the basement.  He looked helplessly to Peter and Rhodey.  “I-I have no idea what that was about.”

 

Rhodey walked over to Tony.  “I think…I think I do.  You mind if I try talking to him?”

 

Scrubbing a hand over his goatee, Tony shrugged.  “Yeah, sure.”

* * *

The layout of Tony’s mansion was very similar to his home before Killian had blown it up.  Rhodey followed the stairs down to the workshop, where there was another set of stairs to the subbasement.  While the workshop still had the same sleek look with Tony’s multiple gadgets and prized car collection, the subbasement was crammed full of boxes of wires, circuits, pipes, and a lot of other junk Tony said he might need for any future projects.

 

“Morgan,” Rhodey peered between boxes and crates.  “Where are you hiding?  It better not be in a low shelf because I can’t squat down like that any more.”

 

The silence was broken by a sniffle and Rhodey followed the sound to the far wall.  There, he found Morgan sitting with his knees hugging his chest, his little body wracked with sobs. 

 

“Oh kiddo.”  Rhodey was silently grateful he could use the wall to slide down next to Morgan.  Once sitting, Rhodey wrapped an arm around Morgan, hugging the child to his side.  “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

 

A few moments passed before Morgan finally looked up, his big blue eyes heartbreakingly sad.  “I’m not…I’m not as smart or as good as Dad.”

 

“No one said you had to be.”

 

“Try telling that to everyone at school!” Morgan exclaimed.  “Even my teacher said I could build or robot for the science fair.  I don’t know how to do that stuff!  I don’t get how it works!

 

“Dad was doing calculus when he was a kid and I can’t pass my times table test.  I failed my math test today.  How am I supposed to tell him that?”  Morgan’s voice cracked.  “He should just keep Peter here, and send me back to Boston or wherever.”

 

Rhodey managed to wrap his other arm around Morgan as he continued to cry.  “Morgan, your father loves you more than anything in the world.  He would be so sad if you went far away.”

 

Sniffling, Morgan shrugged.  When he didn’t respond, Rhodey went on.  “I know how tough it feels to be compared to your dad with all of his accomplishments.”

 

“How would you know?  You’re War Machine.”

 

Rhodey scoffed.  “I didn’t build that suit; I took it from your dad a long time ago.  And I did take it from him no matter what he says.”  That at least earned an amused sound from Morgan.  “But all of the upgrades and programs in the suit, that was all because of your dad.”

 

Morgan leaned heavily into Rhodey’s side and James continued in a soothing voice.  “I met your dad when we were in college.  There I was struggling with math too and here comes fifteen year old Tony who immediately started junior level classes.

 

“He made everything seem _so_ easy while I was spending every free moment in the library studying, just to make it by.”  Rhodey swallowed before his next words.  “I felt so inferior next to him.”

 

It took Morgan a moment before he said, “Yeah,” in a tiny voice.  “So what did you do? You guys are best friends.”

 

The corner of Rhodey’s mouth lifted.  “I got to know him and found out he was a really cool guy, but don’t you dare tell him I said that.”  Thankfully, that comment teased a smile out of Morgan.  “Beneath that genius, Tony was just a regular teenager who liked to play video games all night.  I eventually stopped comparing myself to him.  I didn’t need to compete with him; I had my own strengths. 

 

“After college I went into the Air Force and became a fighter pilot.  I learned I was really smart when it came to jets and I could make them better for other soldiers.”  Rhodey rested his cheek on Morgan’s head.  “It’s okay that you might need a little extra help in math or that you don’t know how to build computer.”

 

Then Rhodey made Morgan face him for his next words.  “I know you are good at a lot of things and I guarantee you are going to find your strengths.”

 

 “You absolutely will.”

 

Tony’s voice visibly startled Rhodey, and Tony chuckled as he emerged from his hiding place among forgotten boxes.  “Please don’t have a heart attack in my basement.  I don’t want to clean up your body.”

 

“Maybe give a guy a warning.”

 

Tony offered a hand to Rhodey, and pulled him on his feet.  Rhodey took his cue to leave father and son by themselves.  “Well I am starving so I’m going to get some pizza before the Spider-Boy eats it all.”

 

Morgan scrambled to his feet, giving Rhodey a hug around his middle.  “Thanks, Uncle Jimmy.”

 

“Yeah, thank you,” Tony said sincerely, clapping Rhodey’s shoulder as he walked by.

* * *

Once Rhodey headed back up the stairs, Tony turned to face his son.  Morgan’s bloodshot eyes shifted to his shoes.  He remained quiet while Tony sat on a box so he could be at eye level with his son. 

 

There was a lot for Tony to process between Morgan and Rhodey’s admissions to each other.  Tony never knew in their forty years of friendship that Rhodey had sometimes felt inferior to him.  He wondered if his light hearted jabs at Rhodey’s intelligence had hurt James more than he let on.  _That_ was something Tony needed to talk with Rhodey about this weekend.

 

And Morgan...Morgan‘s confession had made Tony’s heart crack, his chest filling with a very physical ache.  The fact his son felt he wasn’t _smart_ enough for Tony?  And Morgan thinking Tony would have rather wanted Peter here instead?  Tony was sick with worry, guilt, and shame that his son struggled with these feelings. What could he say to even begin to fix this?

 

Blowing a breath out through his nose, Tony placed his hands on Morgan’s shoulders.  “I am so, _so_ sorry.”

 

Morgan blinked in surprise.  “For what?”

 

“So many things, kiddo.  For trying to take over your science project.  Not noticing you needed help in school.”  Tony sighed.  “Mostly for hurting your feelings and making you feel ignored.”

 

“How did you know that?”

 

Tony smiled sheepishly.  “Friday.” 

 

After Rhodey headed to the subbasement, Tony had FRIDAY pipe their conversation into the speaker on his phone.  When Morgan was born, Tony swore to himself that Morgan would always know how much he loved him.  But listening to the boy’s conversation with Rhodey made Tony feel like he failed as a parent in the biggest way possible.  Tony knew all to well what it felt like to not live up to a father’s standards…and he never wanted that for Morgan.

 

“And I am not making spying on you a habit,” Tony said.  “I was just…just really worried about you.”

 

When his son silently nodded, Tony went on, “Morgan, if you don’t want to build a robot for your science fair project, you don’t have to.  You don’t have to like the things I like.”  His own tears clogged his throat.  “I love you just the way you are.  I wouldn’t change one tiny detail about you.”

 

Morgan’s eyes turned glassy.  “Really?” he croaked.

 

“Without question.”  That made Morgan launch himself into Tony’s arms.  Shuddering back a sob, Tony gathered Morgan as close as he could.

 

Tony laid his cheek next to Morgan’s so his lips brushed the young boy’s ear.  “I love you so much.”

 

Morgan tightened his little arms around Tony’s middle.  “I love you, too, Dad.”

 

It was a long time before Morgan pulled away.  Grinning, Tony cupped Morgan’s cheek.  “So what do _you_ want to do for your science fair?”

 

“I dunno,” Morgan shrugged.

 

“So helpful, kiddo.”  There was no bite to Tony’s words.  “How about we eat dinner and figure something out?”

 

When Morgan nodded, Tony stood and offered his hand.  Morgan grasped it and they headed to the stairs together.  “We’ll wait until Mom gets home to discuss you math test.”

 

“Yeah, I know,” Morgan sighed.

 

“I want to go over it with you, and see what you do not understand.”

 

The corner of Morgan’s mouth lifted.  “Okay…but what Peter?”

 

Tony paused at the entrance to the workshop.  “About that...you’re okay with him staying here?”

 

“Yeah.”  But Morgan still sounded slightly unsure.

 

“Because I would never replace you with Peter.”

 

“I know.”

 

“And just because he and I like the same things doesn’t mean I love you any less.”

 

Morgan rolled his eyes.  “Okay.”

 

But Tony didn’t miss the way Morgan smiled at his reassurance so he decided to hug his son again.  “I was thinking about it,” he started in a low voice.  “I did tell Peter I would take him to the R and D department so he and I can go on Monday while you’re in school.  But this weekend we’re all going to do something fun together.  How about that?”

 

“That sounds really good, Dad,” Morgan grinned.  “Is Mom going to come with us?”

 

“Of course Mom will be there too!  The more, the merrier to annoy your mother.”

 

Morgan’s laugh bounced off of the walls and the sweet sound warmed Tony’s heart.

 

\--The End


End file.
